Should Professional Athletes be Paid

Undoubtedly, professional athletes are overpaid for their contribution to society. Professional athletes simply chase a ball down a field, hit a ball with a stick, or throw balls in hoops, none of which help our country in the least. They are poor role models for children, they are selfish, and they do not contribute to society at all. So why are we paying them millions of dollars each year? Why do the youth aspire to be like them? What about the few professional athletes that are making an impact on society?

Professional athletes should be the last person a child should look up to.

Why do the youth aspire to be like these professional athletes? The answer is obvious, they see how much they make per year and automatically want to be just like them. It is not that they do anything heroic, it is simply their yearly salary. If a child saw a professional athlete save animals as a side hobby, but made less money, the child would not care about that.

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The world today is materialistic and no one wants to be poor when they grow up. Also, pro athletes let their money get to their head and they think they are able to do what they want. Ian Mendes (2014) brought up “ First there was the video release of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking his fiancée unconscious in an elevator.” Mendes (2014) also recognized something else that Charles Barkley said, “Barkley made it clear that the role of athletes was simply to perform on the court or field of play.

He concluded that he had no moral obligations to be a role model for young people.” Which is true, a child should look up to their parent or anyone else that has a big impact on their life, not a pro athlete just because they can do a fancy trick that probably a hundred other people can do or even because they earn a high salary.

Also, Pro athletes are selfish and without them, our country would prosper. With not having to pay millions of dollars per year to pro athletes, America would be able to pay off its debt to other countries or even help other countries rise from poverty. According to Ashley Figueroa (2014) “After all. The salary of one professional athlete would be enough to help an entire city in a third world country overcome poverty.” That’s ridiculous that they even get paid that much to be able to do that, and they don’t even attempt to do anything like that. They spend their earnings on houses for themselves, new jewelry, new clothes/shoes, electronics, and cars. All of which are for themself and don’t help the country in the least. Kindred, D. (1998) stated “Sean Gilbert refused to sign with the Redskins last year, sitting out the NFL season because ‘God told me’ to accept nothing less than five million dollars a year, four years, guaranteed. What God had to say about incentive money, first-class air travel, suites on the road and limousine service from practice to home, Gilbert didn’t report.. He signs with the Panthers for seven years, $47.5 million.” That is completely selfish, doctors don’t say they cannot save a life because God told them not to because their salary is too low. No, doctors save lives because it is their passion and they enjoy doing what they do, regardless of their salary.

There are however a few pro athletes who are great role models and give back to society. Max Zahn (2018) brought to light LeBron James’ new eight million dollar public school to help kids that are going through similar situations as he did as a child. He stated, “The unusual school is a public school formed in collaboration between James’ philanthropic foundation and Akron Public Schools. Its out-of-the-box offerings include a long school day (eight hours); a “support circle” for students after lunch; and GED courses and job placement for parents. All are driven by James’ mission to help kids overcome what he faced as a low-income student in Akron, he says.” LeBron James is one of few pro athletes that should be a child’s role model. Then there are those who create foundations for cancer research or other diseases, that have most likely affected their family in some way, and the money they raise does not actually go to what they are saying it is going to.

According to Tim Keown (2013) “Nobody should, as Baron Davis was found to have done, use his status and influence as a multimillionaire NBA star to raise money for a charity that funneled the money to Davis' personal event-planning business.” On top of this, not only is Davis not giving to society, it is also thoughtless and selfish on his part. Keown (2013) also stated “Sunday's "Outside the Lines", which found that 74 percent of 115 athlete charities investigated fell short of acceptable nonprofit standards used by the top three charity watchdogs.” That is over half of athlete charities that were investigated that fell short of acceptable standards.